I had a laparoscopy and laser treatment on monday, then on weds I woke with really bad pain in my back, I could pin point to exactly where the pain was and it was on my spine.
When I touched the area pain would shoot right through me, I went to hospital last night and I was told I have a trapped nerve, they didnt say anything else apart from take medicene.

Im really worried as iv never had this before, I dont like the idea its on my spine, how did it happen and will it go or am I stuk with it forever, should I be resting or moving..

I'm sorry you are experiencing unexpected pain from your surgical procedure. I really don't know all that much about laser laparoscopy but will try to offer a couple suggestions.

Unfortunately the pelvis and spinal areas are close in proximity, with nerves running back and forth. One of the major nerves is the ilioinguinal nerve which can become injured during abdominal surgery. It is one of four nerves that make up what is called the lumbar plexus.

Injury can happen with any type of abdominal surgery. Pain associated with this kind of injury shows up in the inguinal area, which is in the abdomen, and this pain typically radiates into the legs and genital area.

I don't know enough about this procedure to know how the nerve could become entrapped. However, whenever a laser is involved, there is always a very small risk of damage to surrounding tissue, which could include the nerve.

I would suggest you call your surgeon today and find out specifically how you should treat this entrapment. While it is rarely beneficial to take to your bed and remain there, in this case I don't think it would hurt to rest a couple days to see if this takes care of the problem.

It would make some sense to me that the nerve could become somewhat compressed if surrounding tissue is swelling, but in that case, the pain radiates out from the area and there is not one spot that evokes a reaction of pain when you press on it. It isn't quite that localized.

Since you do not have sudden muscle weakness I would think that the problem is just temporary and will go away as the swelling goes away. Are you allowed to use ice? You might try putting an ice or cold gel pack over the lower lumbar spine area for 15-20 minutes at a time to see if it helps.

Hopefully it will clear up in a few days. However, I will warn you that when a spinal nerve is irritated or compressed, it can take a long time to heal.

Good luck. Hope you are feeling better soon.

The Following User Says Thank You to teteri66 For This Useful Post:ritax (03-01-2012)

The lumbar spinal nerves carry sensation and innervate the lower limbs. When someone has lumbar nerve compression, it is not unusual to have radiating pain into the groin, buttocks, hip, leg and feet, and they run along specific routes that are called dermatomes. For example, if a patient complains of numbness in the big toe, the doctor would know to start investigating at the L4 (lumbar 4) nerve root. The root is located between the L4 and L5 vertebrae but the pain goes down into the foot and can cause pain at any point along the nerve.

Did they do any imaging at hospital or just how did they deduce that the pain was coming from an entrapped nerve?

Hi, I could pin point the exact area and the doctor ran his finger along my spine and when he got to the exact area I almost went flying acros the room, he then told me bcos of the extent of the pain it was a trapped nerve..
If I put my hands on my hips and follow round to my spine its just a little higher..

The opertion I had was to treat endometriosis, they lasered this out in all of the abdoman and ovarie area. I have had this operation before but never experience this nerve problem.

I would imagine that there is swelling that is pressing on one of the nerves. It definitely sounds possible from what you are describing. Again, I would suggest icing the area of your back where it hurts -- not where the incision is.

It may be that the laser just got a tad too close and the nerve got irritated...or something similar. I think it will go away as you recover...but depending on how much it was irritated, it may linger well past the time you have recovered from the procedure.

Nerves are notoriously slow to recover once they have been irritated. With a spine surgery it is not uncommon to still have nerve pain 12 months post surgery. I doubt yours will take more than a couple weeks...but don't be surprised if it takes awhile.

There is someone on the board who has bad endo. I hope she sees your thread and responds.